1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to improvements in toe stops for roller skates and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a toe stop having a bottom surface comprising two flat surfaces having the planes thereof angularly disposed with respect to one another.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Toe stops are in widespread use on roller skates, and particularly in use by professional skaters, and the like, for facilitating starting and stopping while skating. For example, the toe stop shown in the G. V. Fowlkes U.S. Pat. No. 2,485,147, issued in October 1949, has been widely used by roller skaters in the past and comprises a toe element having a bottom surface for engaging the ground to facilitate stopping. The Reynolds U.S. Pat. No. 2,941,812, issued June 21, 1960, also shows a toe stop for facilitating stopping and the like and includes a bottom having three surfaces at different angles with respect to each other. However, the toe stop shown in the Fowlkes patent, which was very popular with skaters for many years, evolved into another very popular and widely used toe stop, commonly known in the industry as the Fowlkes toe stop, even though the item was not patented. The evolved Fowlkes-type toe stop, which has been manufactured by Fo-Mac, Inc. for many years, includes a bottom surface having two flat portions disposed at an angle with respect to one another. One of the flat surfaces of this evolved Fowlkes-type toe stop, manufactured by Fo-Mac, Inc., is of a transverse dimension smaller than the transverse dimension of the other flat surface, with the leading portion of the bottom of the toe stop being the greater of the flat surfaces. In use, the smaller of the flat surfaces is the surface which initially engages the ground during stopping or starting, or the like, and the larger or greater flat surface only engages the ground when the skate is tipped or rolled over at a greater forward angle. Some skaters using the evolved Fowlkes-type toe stop manufactured by Fo-Mac, Inc. have found that initial engagement of the ground with the larger flat surface is more efficient than the initial engagement of the ground with the lesser flat surface. Consequently, many users of the toe stop manufactured by Fo-Mac, Inc. have reversed the position or orientation of the toe stop on the skate in order that the lesser of the two flat surfaces will be the leading portion of the bottom of the toe stop and the greater portion will initially engage the ground. This has disadvantages, however, in that the means for connection of the toe stop with the skate normally includes either a plate means engagable with the toe plate of the skate, or a threaded stud disposed at an angle with respect to the lesser flat surface of the toe stop for engagement with a complementary element provided on the skate. The reversal of the toe stop requires a modification of the complementary elements of the skate in order to install the toe stop on the skate.